1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of computers and, more particularly, to a portable computer having a flip keyboard that presents itself to a user when opened from the portable computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section.
A typical computer generally has an input device on which information can be entered into the computer by a user. There are different forms of input devices available in the marketplace, depending on the amount of information being entered and the overall form factor (size) of the computer itself.
The most common form of input device is a keyboard. The desktop or portable computers generally have a QWERTY keyboard on which a user can depress keys and receive tactile feedback on which keys are being depressed. There are instances in which a keyboard can be displayed on a screen and the surface of the screen can be contact-sensitive.
A contact-sensitive screen, or touch screen, can be manufactured in various ways, and the overall operation of that screen can vary depending on the technology used. For example, a resistive touch screen generally includes a touch panel, with a resist film placed beneath a transparent film. A grid of dots or spacers are disposed between the films. When the uppermost film is depressed by an object, a spacer is contacted and resistivity is measured depending on where the object depressed the screen within the two-dimensional, x-y coordinates of that screen. An example of a resistive touch screen device is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,269, herein incorporated by reference.
While its operation is somewhat similar to a resistive touch panel, another type of touch screen may include a capacitive touch screen. Capacitive touch screens, or panels, typically sense the location of an object on or near the surface of the touch panel based on capacitive coupling between the surface of the touch panel and the object. An example of a capacitive touch panel is set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,521,336 and 5,943,044, herein incorporated by reference.
While the display can be contact-sensitive and can either yield slightly to pressure from the object, or not, many touch pad surfaces are too small to accommodate all keys of a QWERTY keyboard. In this instance, the display screen will display output from the computer not as a keyboard, but as various icons which can be selected by a user's fingertip, or stylus, brought to bear upon that icon. One example of a computer that primarily utilizes a stylus is a tablet-like personal computer. Other examples might be a cellular telephone, two-way pager, or personal digital assistant (PDA). A tablet personal computer (PC) has grown popular as a keyboard-less device, which allows entry of handwriting upon the tablet. The handwritten information can be stored and sent to a destination, known as “digital ink.”
However, if large amounts of data are to be entered upon the tablet surface, tablet PC software sometimes lacks sufficiently accurate handwriting recognition tools for converting the handwriting to alphanumeric characters. Thus, when entering significant amounts of alphanumerical information, the standard QWERTY keyboard reigns supreme.
It would be desirable to implement a computer, preferably a portable computer, having the benefits of a tablet-entry mechanism while at the same time also allowing entry upon a QWERTY keyboard. The portable computer, such as a tablet computer, PDA, or other computing devices which have a display, should preferably maintain its portability and small dimension. A truly portable computer will avoid having to plug into a docking station or receive an external keyboard. Allowing a user to enter information into the portable computer, preferably a portable tablet PC, either as handwriting across a screen, objective (i.e., fingertip or stylus) activation of an icon displayed on a screen, or entry upon a QWERTY keyboard present a significant improvement over conventional portable computers which cannot accommodate all of these various input mechanisms.